Majority of shoppers WANT supermarkets to charge them for plastic bags

More than half of shoppers in England and Scotland want retailers to charge for plastic bags, according to research by Which?

A poll by the consumer group found that 56 per cent of respondents support a 5p levy on carrier bags, something which is currently imposed by only Marks & Spencer among the big name supermarkets.

M&S says its policy has lead to a 78 per cent drop in bag use in its stores.

Of the 44 per cent opposed to a
charge, 70 per cent though they already pay enough for their shopping and 45 per cent
thought they should be entitled to free bags.

Carry on: Marks & Spencer is the only supermarket to charge for its plastic bags

A compulsory charge for bags is already
in place in Wales - where supermarket Morrisons says it has led to an 80
per cent drop in carrier usage. Northern Ireland is set to introduce a
levy next
year and later this year Scottish parliament is set to consult on the issue.

Retailers in England
have no obligation to charge customers for bags even though the numbers being used are worryingly high.

In 2008 supermarkets signed agreement to reduce bag use by 50 per cent in a year but since that ended in 2009 usage has risen again.

Supermarkets provided nearly 800 million more single-use plastic carrier bags last year than they did two years ago, according to figures from Waste Resources Action Plan (Wrap).

The 10 per cent increase pushes the number of bags supplied to shoppers to eight billion, or 120 per customer, just for supermarkets.

While some try to encourage
customers to reuse bags by offering loyalty points, 62 per cent of
people polled felt that retailers don't do enough.

Although 8 per cent of the 1,000 people surveyed by the consumer group confessed to throwing away bags in the general waste after their initial use, 92 per cent said they do reuse bags either for shopping or as bin liners.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: ‘Customers should reuse bags wherever possible and take advantage of recycling points in stores where they're available. We'd also like to see recycled material used for new plastic bags as much as possible.’

A Defra spokesman said: ‘We want to work with retailers to help them lift their game to cut the number of bags they hand out.'We are monitoring the results of the charging scheme in Wales and the outcome of the Scottish consultation on a charge.’

The survey also revealed that half of
shoppers who have used an online supermarket in the last 12 months felt
too many bags were used.